§ Mr. Leightonasked the Secretary of State for Home Department (1) how many police officers are engaged in foot patrols in the London borough of Newham at 12 midnight Sunday/Monday nights;
(2) how many police officers are on foot patrol at any given moment in the London borough of Newham; and what percentage this is of the total number.
§ Mr. HurdResponsibility for the day-to-day deployment of police officers rests with the chief officer of the force. I understand from the commissioner that the number of officers regularly deployed on foot patrol duties in any area varies according to the policing needs and the availablity of manpower at the time. It is not the practice to disclose details of the level of manpower likely to be deployed in a particular place at a particular time.